Improving fuel efficiency in heavy-duty vehicles provides numerous benefits to the national and global communities. Heavy-duty vehicles consume a substantial amount of diesel fuel and gasoline, increasing dependence on fossil fuels. In the United States, medium and heavy-duty vehicles constitute the second largest contributor within the transportation sector to oil consumption. “EPA and NHTSA Adopt First-Ever Program to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Improve Fuel Efficiency of Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles”, Regulatory Announcement EPA-420-F-11-031, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, August 2011 (hereinafter, “EPA Fact Sheet”). Currently, heavy-duty vehicles account for 17% of transportation oil use. “Annual Energy Outlook 2010”, U.S. Energy Information Admin., Report DOE/EIA-0382 (2010), April 2010. Demand for heavy-duty vehicles is expected to increase 37% between 2008 and 2035 (EPA Fact Sheet), making the need for more fuel-efficient vehicles even more apparent.
Heavy-duty vehicles also emit into the atmosphere carbon dioxide, particulates, and other by-products of burning fossil fuels. The EPA estimates that the transportation sector emitted 29% of all U.S. greenhouse gases in 2007 and has been the fastest growing source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions since 1990. “Inventory of US Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2009”, Report EPA 430-R-11-005, Apr. 15, 2011. By improving fuel efficiency in heavy-duty vehicles used in the U.S., the amount of greenhouse gases emitted could be drastically reduced. The benefits of improved fuel efficiency have prompted the Obama Administration to implement new regulations mandating stricter fuel efficiency standards for heavy-duty vehicles. In August 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released the details of the Heavy Duty National Program, designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve fuel efficiency of heavy-duty trucks and buses. The Program will set forth requirements for fuel efficiency and emissions from heavy-duty vehicles between 2014 and 2018 in a first phase, and from 2018 and beyond in a second phase. The key initiatives targeted by this program are to reduce fuel consumption and thereby improve energy security, increase fuel savings, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions (EPA Fact Sheet). Creating sustainable processes for improving fuel efficiency of heavy-duty vehicles would allow vehicle owners to comply with the new emission standards, and would further the initiatives of the Heavy Duty National Program.
Poor fuel economy consumes resources that a vehicle operator might more profitably spend on opportunities that also benefit the economy as a whole. The EPA and Department of Transportation have estimated that the Heavy Duty National Program would result in savings of $35 billion in net benefits to truckers, or $41 billion total when societal benefits, such as reduced health care costs because of improved air quality, are taken into account. EPA Fact Sheet.